Systems and methods for endpoint recording using phones

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for recording media communication. An exemplary method comprises the steps of: receiving an incoming call from a calling phone; routing the incoming call to a called phone in a contact center; transmitting voice communications associated with the incoming call via the calling phone; duplicating the voice communications via the called phone; transmitting the duplicated voice communications via the called phone; and recording the duplicated voice communications.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is generally related to recording of communication signals and, more particularly, is related to systems and methods for recording communication signals through a contact center.

BACKGROUND

A traditional passive tap recording technique includes recorders that are deployed along routes of communications. In this technique, each recorder operates similar to a “sniffer” by analyzing pass-by communication packets. The recorder records the packets corresponding to certain communication sessions based on its configuration. FIG. 1 shows a typical deployment of passive tap recorders in a contact center. In an IP telephony environment, recorders are typically deployed either at the voice gateway, which interfaces between Internet Protocol (IP) network and public switched telephone network (PSTN), or at switches in order to stay along the routes of the communications. This technique has the advantages of (1) minimum intrusion to a communication system, (2) cost effectiveness in deployment for companies with centralized office locations, and (3) easy scalability for compliance recording. However, for companies with many distributed branch offices, the above advantages start to diminish. This is especially true if the purpose of the recorders is for quality monitoring.

First, with the growing usage of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, many telephony-based businesses, such as contact centers, are adopting distributed telephony systems with local access to PSTN, which are still controlled by centralized soft switches. Many contact centers are using at-home agents with soft-phones on their personal computers (PCs). The distributed telephony system makes “recording along the communication routes”, needed for passive tap recording, difficult. Secondly, network security has now become a concern. The deployment of encryption technology has made passive tap recording become even more problematic.

In addition, many contact centers deploy recorders for quality monitoring purpose, instead of compliance. In this regard, only a small percentage of the communications are recorded and monitored. However, to assure the accuracy of the sampling, communications are randomly selected for recording across all branch offices. With passive tap recording, a large number of recorders will be required and each recorder will have very low usage.

A typical IP-based contact center using the passive tapping “sniffing” recording method is shown in FIG. 1. Two branch offices are shown in the figure. To communicate with any agents at the contact center, a customer communication device, such as a time domain multiplexing (TDM) or an IP phone, first sends communication signals to a call-processing device of the contact center, such as a soft switch. The communication signals can be sent either directly to the call-processing device in case of IP to IP communications or via a media processing device, such as a voice gateway in case of TDM to IP. The communication network can be a PSTN network or IP-based network. Once the communication signals have been received, the call-processing device then routes the communication signals to an agent phone.

After several rounds of communication signals exchange, media communications between the agent's phone and customer's phone can proceed via media processing device and distribution devices. The distribution devices are network routers and switches. In order to record the media communications using passive tapping, recorders are deployed at the media processing device or distribution devices using the network traffic monitoring or duplicating features, such as the Cisco's Switch Port Analyzer (SPAN) feature, on these devices. These tapping features are often available to the recorders that are directly connected to the media processing device or distribution devices, namely to recorders deployed at each branch office. Hence, a large contact center having multiple branches, such as a branch in New York, a branch in Los Angeles, and a branch in Chicago, may need multiple recorders in each branch to record the voice communications.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods for recording media communication are provided. An exemplary method comprises the steps of: receiving an incoming call from a calling phone; routing the incoming call to a called phone in a contact center; transmitting voice communications associated with the incoming call via the calling phone; duplicating the voice communications via the called phone; transmitting the duplicated voice communications via the called phone; and recording the duplicated voice communications.

Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the present invention will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system for passive tap recording.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system in which media communication at a company can be recorded by an endpoint recorder located anywhere on an IP network connected to the company.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system in which voice communication at a contact center can be recorded by a voice endpoint recorder located anywhere on an IP network connected to the contact center using a conference bridge.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system in which voice communication at a contact center with multiple branch offices can be recorded by a voice endpoint recorder located anywhere on an IP network connected to the contact center using a conference bridge.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system in which voice communication at a contact center can be recorded by a voice endpoint recorder using a phone.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system in which media communication at a company can be recorded by a multi-media endpoint recorder using a media application server.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system in which both voice communication and non-voice media communication can be recorded by a multi-media endpoint recorder in a contact center.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram that illustrates an example of operation of a system such as shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram of an embodiment of a system such as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in which a voice communication can be recorded using a conference bridge.

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram of an embodiment of a system, such as shown in FIG. 5, in which a voice communication can be recorded using a phone.

FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram of an embodiment of a system, such as shown in FIG. 6, in which a media communication can be recorded via a media application server.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for recording communication signals without requiring recording devices to be deployed along the route of the two end points of the communication. In particular, the recording of the communication signals can be achieved using a soft switch, a conference bridge, a phone, a media communication device, and/or a media application server.

Exemplary systems are first discussed with reference to the figures. Although these systems are described in detail, they are provided for purposes of illustration only and various modifications are feasible. After the exemplary systems are described, examples of flow diagrams and sequence diagrams of the systems are provided to explain the manner in which communication signals can be recorded.

Referring now in more detail to the figures, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system in which media communication at a company can be recorded by an endpoint recorder located anywhere on an IP network connected to the company. Two branch offices 203, 206 of a company may need to record communications between employees and between employees and customers. Customer communication devices 223, 236 connect to branch offices 203, 206 either via an IP network 219 or via a PSTN network 216, 233, respectively. The customer communication devices 223, 236 can include, but are not limited to, telephones, soft-phones on hand held devices, or Personal Computers.

Recording device(s) 226 can be deployed anywhere on the IP network 219 connected to the branch offices 203, 206. Alternatively or additionally, the recording devices 226 can communicate with media controlling/processing/distributing devices 213, 231 in a secure fashion in encrypted environments, for getting communication events and for sending instructions. With the capability of the recording devices 226 to communicate with the media controlling/processing/distributing devices 213, 231, the recording device 226 can selectively record communications in the contact center based on business policy. Alternatively or additionally, if a recording device is a cluster of recording devices, the recording device can communicate with the media controlling/processing/distributing devices 213, 231 to select which recording device from the cluster of recording devices to record the communications for load balancing purposes.

The media controlling/processing devices control the communication between customers and employees and between employees. The media controlling/processing devices can include, but are not limited to, voice gateways, soft switches, conference bridges, and multi-media application servers. The distributing devices can include, but are not limited to, routers and switches. Based on static configuration or instructions from the recording devices, the media controlling/processing devices can duplicate and transmit on-going communication between communication devices 209, 229, 223, 236 to the recording devices via the IP network 219 using its media processing features. Alternatively or additionally, the media controlling/processing devices can also instruct a communication device 209, 229 at the company premises 203, 206, respectively, to duplicate and transmit any on-going communications to the recording devices 226 using media processing features on the communication devices 209, 229. The operation of the system 200 is further described in relation to FIG. 8.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system in which voice communication at a contact center can be recorded by a voice endpoint recorder located anywhere on an IP network connected to the contact center using a conference bridge. As indicated in this figure, the system 300 comprises a contact center premises 301 that includes an IP telephony system 303 that enables communications between agent phones 319, 323, 326 and between agent phones and customer phone(s) 329. The IP telephony system 303 includes soft switch 306, conference bridge 309, voice gateway 313 and agent phones 319, 323, 326, all of which are connected to a company network 316. Calls from the customer phone 329 can be routed to a voice gateway 313, which can route the calls to the soft switch 306. The soft switch 306 receives incoming calls and routes the calls to the agent phones 319, 323, 326. The soft switch 306 communicates with the conference bridge 309 via the company network 316. The IP telephony system 303 communicates with a voice endpoint recorder 339 via an IP network 333. The company network 316 and IP network 333 can include, but are not limited to, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), a virtual private network (VPN) and the Internet.

In this embodiment, the soft switch 306 is operative to send a command to the agent phones 319, 323, 326 and voice gateway 306 via the company network 316, instructing the agent phones 319, 323, 326 and voice gateway 306 to transmit voice communications associated with the incoming calls through the conference bridge 309 via the company network 316. The soft switch 306 also sends a command to the conference bridge 309 via the company network 316 to duplicate and transmit the voice communication to the voice endpoint recorder 339 using the IP network 333. The operation of the system 300 is further described in relation to FIGS. 8 and 9.

Alternatively or additionally, the soft switch can receive instructions for recording the voice communication from the voice endpoint recorder 339 via the IP network 333. In turn, the soft switch sends a command based on the received instructions to the conference bridge 309. Alternatively or additionally, the soft switch 306 can have capabilities of a conference bridge. That is, the soft switch 306 can duplicate and transmit the voice communication to the voice endpoint recorder 339 without using the conference bridge 309.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system in which voice communication at a contact center with multiple branch offices can be recorded by a voice endpoint recorder located anywhere on an IP network connecting to the contact center using a conference bridge. System 400 is similar to the system 300 in FIG. 3 described above. That is, the system 400 includes a contact center premises 401, customer phone 429, company network 416, voice gateway 413, IP network 433, soft switch 406, agent phones 419, 423, 426 and endpoint recorder 439.

As shown in FIG. 4, the contact center premises 401 further includes headquarters 403 that communicates with branches 443, 446 via the IP network 433. The headquarters 403 can be provided at one location, e.g., Chicago, and the branches 443, 446 can be provided at different locations, e.g., Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Despite the different locations of the headquarters 403 and branches 443, 446, a voice communication can be recorded to a single voice endpoint recorder 439 using the conference bridge 409 and IP network 433. Note that the headquarters 403 includes a similar system as shown in FIG. 3. That is, the headquarters 403 includes soft switch 406, conference bridge 409, company network 416 and agent phones 419, 423, 426.

Agent phones 449, 453 within the branches 443, 446 can receive voice communications from within the contact center premises 403 or from customer phone 429. The soft switch 406 can send a command to the agent phones 449, 453 instructing the agent phones 449, 453 to transmit voice communication through the conference bridge 409 via the IP network 433. The soft switch 406 also can send a command to the conference bridge 409 via the company network 416 to duplicate and transmit the voice communication associated with the agent phones 449, 453 to the voice endpoint recorder 439 using the IP network 433. The operation of the system 400 will also be described in greater detail in relation to FIGS. 8 and 9.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system in which voice communication at a contact center can be recorded by a voice endpoint recorder using an agent's phone. The agent's phone can be an IP phone that can be an IP based hardware phone or an IP based soft phone running on an agent's personal computer. The system 500 is similar to the system 300 in FIG. 3 described above. That is, the system 500 includes a contact center premises 501, customer phone 529, company network 516, IP network 533, voice gateway 513, and endpoint recorder 539.

As in FIG. 5, the soft switch 506 manages incoming calls and routes the incoming calls to agent phones 519, 523, 526 via the company network 516. The soft switch 506 communicates with the agent phones 519, 523, 526 to determine whether the agent phones can duplicate and transmit voice communications to an endpoint recorder 539. If the agent phones have the capability, the soft switch 506 instructs the agent phones 519, 523, 526 via the company network 516 to duplicate and transmit voice communications associated with the incoming calls to the endpoint recorder 539 using the IP network 533. Alternatively or additionally, the soft switch 506 can receive instructions for recording the voice communication from the voice endpoint recorder 539 via the IP network 533. In turn, the soft switch 506 sends a command based on the received instructions to the agent phones 519, 523, 526. The operation of the system 500 is further described in relation to FIGS. 8 and 10.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system in which media communication can be recorded by a media endpoint recorder using a media application server. The media communications can include, but are not limited to, audio, video, and text communications. The system 600 comprises a company premises 601 and a customer premises 626 that includes a media communication device 629. The media communications from the media communication device 629 can be routed to a media application server 609. The media application server 609 and media communication devices 619, 623 communicate with each other via a company network 616. The media communication system 603 communicates with a media endpoint recorder 639 via an IP network 633.

In this embodiment, the media application server 609 includes a media controller 606 and a media processor 607. The media controller 606 processes media communications, identifies the type of media communications, and routes the media communications to media communication devices 619, 623 and media processor 607, via the company network 616. The media controller 606 can send a command to the media communication devices 619, 623 via the company network 616, instructing the media communication devices 619, 623 to transmit the media communications through the media application server 609 via the company network 616. Once the media application server 609 receives media communications, the media processor 607 duplicates and transmits the media communications to the media endpoint recorder 639 using the IP network 633. Alternatively or additionally, the media controller 606 can receive instructions for recording the media communications from the media endpoint recorder 639 via the IP network 633. In turn, the media controller 606 sends a command based on the received instructions to the media processor 607. The operation of the system 600 is further described in relation to FIGS. 7 and 10.

Alternatively or additionally, the media communication devices 619, 623 can have the capabilities of duplicating and transmitting the media communications to a media endpoint recorder 639. For example, the media controller 606 manages the media communications and routes the media communications to the media communication devices 619, 623 via the company network 616. The media controller 606 communicates with the media communication devices 619, 623 to determine whether the communication devices 619, 623 can duplicate and transmit the media communications to a media endpoint recorder 639. If the communication devices 619, 623 have the capability, the media controller 606 instructs the media communication devices 619, 623 via the company network 616 to duplicate and transmit media communications to the media endpoint recorder 639 using the IP network 633. Alternatively or additionally, the media controller 606 can receive instructions for recording the media communications from the media endpoint recorder 639 via the IP network 633. In turn, the media controller 606 sends a command based on the received instructions to the communication devices 619, 623.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system in which both voice communication and non-voice media communication can be recorded by a multi-media endpoint recorder in a contact center using a soft switch, conference bridge, agent phones, media communication devices, and media application server, respectively, via an IP network. The multi-media recorder 743 can include both voice and non-voice media recorders. The soft switch 706, conference bridge 709, agent phones 719, 723, 726, media communication devices 759, 763, and media application server 749 communicate with each other via a company network 716.

In one scenario, for example, calls from a customer phone can be routed to a voice gateway 713, which can route the calls to the soft switch 706. The soft switch 706 receives incoming calls and routes the calls to the agent phones 719, 723, 726. The soft switch 706 communicates with the conference bridge 709 via the company network 716. The IP telephony system 703 communicates with the multi-media endpoint recorder 743 via an IP network 733. In this example, the soft switch 706 is operative to send a command to the agent phones 719, 723, 726 and voice gateway 706 via the company network 716, instructing the agent phones 719, 723, 726 and voice gateway 706 to transmit voice communications associated with the incoming calls through the conference bridge 709 via the company network 716. The soft switch 706 also sends a command to the conference bridge 709 via the company network 716 to duplicate and transmit the voice communication to the multi-media endpoint recorder 743 using the IP network 733.

In another scenario, for example, the soft switch 706 can have capabilities of a conference bridge, as mentioned above. The soft switch 706 can duplicate and transmit the voice communication without the conference bridge 709 to the multi-media endpoint recorder 743 using the IP network 733.

In yet another scenario, for example, the soft switch 706 communicates with the agent phones 719, 723, 726 to determine whether the phones can duplicate and transmit voice communications to the multi-media endpoint recorder 743. If the agent phones have the capability, the soft switch 706 instructs the agent phones 719, 723, 726 via the company network 716 to duplicate and transmit voice communications associated with the incoming calls to the multi-media endpoint recorder 743 using the IP network 733.

In yet another scenario, for example, the media application server 749 receives incoming non-voice media communications, identifies the type of non-voice media communications, and routes the non-voice media communications to media communication devices 759, 763 via the company network 716. The media application server 749 can send a command to the media communication devices 759, 763 via the company network 716, instructing the media communication devices 759, 763 to transmit the non-voice media communications through the media application server 749 via the company network 716. The media application server 749 duplicates and transmits the non-voice media communications to the multi-media endpoint recorder 743 using the IP network 733.

In yet another scenario, for example, the media communication devices 759, 763 can have the capabilities of duplicating and transmitting the non-voice media communications to the multi-media endpoint recorder 743. For example, the media application server 749 manages the non-voice media communications and routes the non-voice media communications to the media communication devices 759, 763 via the company network 716. The media application server 749 communicates with the media communication devices 759, 763 to determine whether the communication devices 759, 763 can duplicate and transmit the non-voice media communications to the multi-media endpoint recorder 743. If the communication devices 759, 763 have the capability, the media application server 749 instructs the media communication devices 759, 763 via the company network 716 to duplicate and transmit the non-voice media communications to the multi-media endpoint recorder 743 using the IP network 733.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram that illustrates an example of operation of a system such as shown in FIG. 2. Beginning with block 802, communication signals are received in a contact center. In block 803, the contact center determines whether to duplicate the communication signals such as such as by using the media controlling/processing/distributing devices 213, 231, as shown in FIG. 2. Alternatively or additionally, a recording device can provide instructions to the media controlling/processing/distributing devices 213, 231 for recording the communication signals. In block 804, the contact center duplicates the communication signals such as by using the media controlling/processing/distributing devices 213, 231 or communication devices 209, 229. In block 805, the duplicated communication signals are transmitted to an endpoint recorder using a network. In block 806, the end point recorder records the duplicated communication signals.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram of an embodiment of a system such as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in which a voice communication can be recorded using a conference bridge. Beginning with event 903, a telephone call can be originated from a calling customer or agent phone. If the telephone call is made from a calling customer phone, the telephone call is passed through a voice gateway, which routes the telephone call to a soft switch of a contact center premises. If the telephone call is made from a calling agent phone, for example, within the contact center premises, the soft switch of the contact center premises receives the telephone call. In both situations, the soft switch routes the telephone call to a called phone within the contact center premises and instructs the called phone to transmit the voice communication associated with the telephone call through a conference bridge, as shown at event 906. At event 907, the soft switch can instruct either the calling agent phone or the voice gateway to transmit the voice communication through the conference bridge. The instruction to the called phone and the voice gateway can include an Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and the ports of the conference bridge.

At event 908, the soft switch instructs the conference bridge to duplicate and transmit the voice communication to a voice endpoint recorder. The instruction to the conference bridge can include an IP address and a port of the voice endpoint recorder. At event 909, the called phone transmits the voice communication to the conference bridge such as by using the IP address/port of the conference bridge. At event 913, the conference bridge duplicates the voice communication from the called phone and transmits the duplicated voice communication to the recorder such as by using the IP address/port of the voice endpoint recorder. The recorder receives and records the duplicated voice communication from the called phone. Notably, the voice endpoint recorder can be located anywhere inside or outside the contact center premises as long as the recorder is connected to an IP network connected to the contact center.

At event 916, the conference bridge routes the voice communication from the called phone to the calling agent phone or the voice gateway. At event 919, the calling agent phone or the voice gateway transmits the voice communication to the conference bridge such as by using the IP address and port of the conference bridge. At event 923, the conference bridge duplicates the voice communication from the calling agent phone or the voice gateway and transmits the duplicated voice communication to the recorder such as by using an IP address and a port of the recorder. The recorder receives and records the duplicated voice communication from the calling agent phone or the voice gateway. At event 926, the conference bridge routes the voice communication from the calling agent phone or the voice gateway to the called phone of the contact center premises. Thereafter, the sequence is returned to event 909 so that the called phone can transmit the voice communication to the conference bridge as instructed by the soft switch, as shown at event 929.

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram of an embodiment of a system, such as shown in FIG. 5, in which a voice communication can be recorded using an agent's phone. Beginning with event 1003, a telephone call is originated from a calling agent or customer phone to a soft switch. In this embodiment, a phone of a called agent (called phone) is assumed to have media duplicating capabilities. Alternatively or additionally, the soft switch can communicate with a phone of a contact center premises to determine whether the phone has the media duplicating capabilities. At event 1006, the soft switch routes the voice communication associated with the telephone call to the called phone, and instructs the called phone to duplicate and transmit the duplicated voice communication to a voice endpoint recorder. The instruction to the second agent phones includes, but is not limited to, an IP address and a port of the voice endpoint recorder.

At event 1009, the called phone receives the voice communication from the calling agent phone or the voice gateway, duplicates the voice communication and transmits the duplicated voice communication to the recorder such as by using the IP address and port of the recorder. The recorder receives and records the duplicated voice communication from the calling agent phone or the voice gateway. At event 1013, the called phone transmits the voice communication to the calling agent phone or the voice gateway. The called phone can duplicate its voice communication and transmits the duplicated voice communication to the recorder. The recorder receives and records the duplicated voice communication from the called phone. At event 1016, the calling agent phone or the voice gateway transmits its voice communication to the called phone. At event 1019, the sequence is returned to event 1009 during which the called phone receives the voice communication from the calling agent phone or the voice gateway, duplicates the voice communication and transmits the duplicated voice communication to the recorder.

FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram of an embodiment of a system, such as shown in FIG. 6, in which a media communication can be recorded via a media application server. Beginning with event 1103, a media communication can be initiated from a calling customer or agent communication device. At event 1106, the media application server receives the media communication and instructs the calling communication device to transmit media communication through the media application server. At events 1109, the media application server routes the media communication to a called agent communication device and instructs the called agent communication device to transmit the media communication through a media application server. The instructions to the agent communication device can include an IP address and a port of the media application server.

At event 1119, the calling and called communication devices transmit and receive the media communications to and from the media application server. At event 1123, the media application server duplicates the media communications between the calling and called communication devices and transmits the duplicated media communications such as by using an IP address and a port of a media endpoint recorder. The media endpoint recorder receives and records the duplicated voice communication from the calling and called communication devices.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present invention and protected by the following claims. 

Therefore, having thus described the invention, at least the following is claimed:
 1. A method for recording a communication, comprising the steps of: receiving an incoming call from a calling phone; routing the incoming call to a called phone in a call center; transmitting voice communications associated with the incoming call via the calling phone; duplicating the voice communications via the called phone; selecting a recording device from a cluster of recording devices to record the duplicated voice communications, wherein the recording device is selected by a soft switch for load balancing purposes; transmitting the duplicated voice communications via the called phone to the selected recording device while the call is on-going; and recording the duplicated voice communications at the selected recording device.
 2. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising instructing the called phone to duplicate and transmit the voice communications.
 3. The method as defined in claim 2, wherein the instructions are transmitted from one of a soft switch and the selected recording device.
 4. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting the duplicated voice communication to the selected recording device is performed by the called phone using an IP address and a port of the selected recording device.
 5. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising transmitting voice communication via the calling phone to the called phone using an IP address and a port of the called phone.
 6. The method as defined in claim 5, further comprising receiving voice communication via the called phone from the calling phone.
 7. The method as defined in claim 6, further comprising: duplicating the voice communication between the calling phone and called phone via the called phone; and transmitting the duplicated voice communication between the customer phone and the called phone via the called phone to the selected recording device using an IP address of the selected recording device to be recorded.
 8. A system for recording a communication, comprising: a cluster of recording devices to record voice communications; a calling phone operative to originate a call; a called phone operative to receive the incoming call, the called phone being in a contact center, wherein the calling phone transmits voice communications associated with the incoming call to the called phone, wherein the called phone received instructions to duplicate the voice communications and transmit the duplicated communications to a selected recording device of the cluster of recording devices from a soft switch, wherein the selected recording device is selected by the soft switch for load balancing purposes, wherein the called phone duplicates the voice communications and transmits the duplicated voice communications while the call is on-going over a network to the selected recording device.
 9. The system as defined in claim 8, wherein the recording device is operative to transmit instructions to the soft switch, the soft switch being operative to instruct the called phone to duplicate and transmit the voice communications based on the transmitted instructions.
 10. The system as defined in claim 8, wherein the soft switch transmits Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the calling phone to the called phone using an IP address and port of the called phone.
 11. The system as defined in claim 10, wherein the called phone transmits voice communication to the calling phone using the IP address and port of the calling phone.
 12. The system as defined in claim 8, wherein the called phone transmits the duplicated voice communication to the selected recording device using an IP address of the selected recording device.
 13. The system as defined in claim 8, wherein the calling phone transmits voice communication to the called phone using an IP address and port of the called phone.
 14. The system as defined in claim 13, wherein the called phone receives voice communication from the calling phone.
 15. The system as defined in claim 14, further comprising: means for duplicating the voice communication from the calling phone via the called phone; and means for transmitting the duplicated voice communication between the calling phone and the called phone to the selected recording device using an IP address of the selected recording device to be recorded.
 16. A system for recording a communication, comprising: a cluster of recording devices; a calling phone operative to originate a call; a called phone operative to receive the incoming call, the called phone being in a contact center, wherein the calling phone transmits voice communications associated with the incoming call to the called phone; a soft switch operative to instruct the called phone to duplicate and transmit the voice communications based on transmitted instructions to a selected recording device of the cluster of recording devices, wherein the selected recording device is selected by the soft switch for load balancing purposes, wherein the called phone duplicates the voice communications and transmits the duplicated voice communications over a network to the selected recording device while the call is on-going.
 17. The system as defined in claim 16, wherein the selected recording device is operative to transmit the instructions to the soft switch. 